Karachi factory inferno: court dismisses bail pleas of owners, manager

KARACHI: A district and sessions court on Tuesday dismissed bail pleas of three suspects in a case pertaining to the Mehran Town factory fire that killed 17 workers.

The court rejected the bail applications of premises owner Tariq Faisal, factory owner Ali Hassan Mehta and its manager Imran Zaidi.

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Following the rejection of the bail, police took two of the suspects, Mehta and Zaidi, into custody while the other suspect managed to flee.

At the previous hearing on Sept 4, the judge had extended their interim bail till Sept 7 (Tuesday). The case came up for hearing today for confirmation or otherwise of the bail.

After hearing arguments from defence and prosecution sides, the court dismissed the bail pleas.

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Advocate Hassan Sabir, who represented the suspects, argued that his client rented the premises that housed the factory in 2019.

When the court inquired whether the area where the factory was built was an industrial area, he replied that the whole area is an industrial area where hundreds of factories are set up.

Other agencies including the LaboUr Department should have been involved in the tragedy, the counsel said, adding the accused are cooperating in the investigation. He requested the court to grant bail to them.